Layton-Belling Buys 100,000-SF Facilities

W. Bradford Vickrey of Daum Commercial Real Estate Services tells GlobeSt.com that Layton-Belling bought a two-building complex on 5.1 acres at 3700 and 3730 Redondo Beach Ave., with Vickrey representing both Layton-Belling and the seller, Freeman Properties.

The buildings, comprising 51,340 sf and 48,000 sf, are occupied by CCH/Computax, a provider of tax and accounting software; and Danzas, a freight forwarder. Both are of highly improved concrete tilt-up construction with dock-high loading and ample office space, 17,000 sf in one building and 11,000 sf in the other. Both buildings were constructed in 1962, and the one occupied by Danzas was renovated extensively in 1994.

Vickrey says such leased investments are rare in today's South Bay sale market, where substantial amounts of money are chasing very few deals. Prices keep rising, he says, buoyed also by low interest rates and a shaky stock market that makes real estate look good by comparison.

Vickrey tells GlobeSt.com that the acquisitions were among the first for Layton-Belling & Associates through a new industrial fund the firm formed recently in partnership with institutional investors and others. The fund plans to buy $180 million worth of industrial properties during the next 18 months, targeting properties in the range of $5 million to $30 million throughout Southern California. The new fund, according to a Layton-Belling announcement, expects to focus primarily on L.A. County's largest industrial markets, namely the City of Commerce, City of Industry, Mid-Cities and the South Bay.